David Wong

Writer and journalist for almost a year. Doing this for fun. Learned a lot along the way. I'm interested in businesses and the moves they make, tech and how it changes the world, and of course, enjoy playing some video games! I enjoy console and PC, but mostly RPGs, FPS, and League of Legends.

New Kingdom Come DLC trailer released: The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon

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New Kingdom Come DLC trailer released: The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon 1

A new content release for Kingdom Come: Deliverance called The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon was just released today. Warhorse Studios and Deep Silver released this DLC and priced it at a fair MSRP of $9.99. Players can purchase this add-on on the PS Store, Xbox One, and PC.

The DLC adds a few new features to the game. First, they’ll attempt to rescue their friends Hans Capon, who has fallen for a character named Karolina and needs your help to guide him. You’ll need a family jewel, potion, and a romantic poem to get this plan working.

A new Rattay Combat Tournament has also been added to the game for players who want to prove their combat skills in the arena. Players who rise to the top can acquire some pretty unique armor equips.

The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon is the second add-on for the original game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, following From the Ashes which was released back in July of this year. This DLC was known for allowing players to establish a village as a newly appointed bailiff starting a new bustling city.

A new trailer to promote this DLC was also released. You can view it here:

Skybound Games hosting AMA to clear fan confusion

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Skybound Games hosting AMA to clear fan confusion 2

With Telltale Games officially shutting down and firing their remaining staff, fans were anxious about what would happen to their final project: The Walking Dead: The Final Season. Skybound Games then took over by stepping in and agreeing to finish the series with the original developers to keep the integrity of the storyline.

But this didn’t quench the minds of fans who still had dozens of questions that went unanswered. So let’s get some answers.

So now Skybound Games is officially hosting an AMA on Reddit (ask me anything) this week on Wednesday, October 17th at 5PM EST on the official Walking Dead subreddit. CEO Ian Howe will be answering questions on the thread that fans have about the project and how the game will continue moving forward after Telltale’s fiasco.

Skybound has done everything right so far by hiring the original staff, and now answering questions. Let’s see how they’ll handle this project.

The next season, Season 3, of The Walking Dead: The Final Season hasn’t been announced, but we’ll probably learn when they’ll release it as it’s a popular question amongst fans and will be guaranteed to be asked during this Skybound AMA.

Stay tuned for updates. We’ll post the most significant questions and answers from Skybound in another post to keep you updated. We’re as anxious as you.

CoD: BO4 shatters day one sales records in total Activision history

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CoD: BO4 shatters day one sales records in total Activision history 3

Activision came out with a press release yesterday to announce their latest publication, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, has been the most successful day one digital release in the publisher’s entire history. This means that sales for CoD: BO4 broke all previous sales records- including the record set by Call of Duty: WII and broke the record for day one sales on the entire PlayStation Store and release day sales on Xbox One.

PC digital sales were over double that of those set by WWII on first day sales. Player count also grew since last year’s release. The press release also had a remark from Call of Duty Executive VP and GM Rob Kostrich:

Black Ops 4 is an incredible game, and the community’s response to it has been amazing. We have shattered multiple digital day one sales records, and the number of people who connected online on day one to play has grown year on year. But probably the most important thing is that the community is having so much fun across Multiplayer, Zombies and Blackout. We are so incredibly thankful for the community’s trust and support. This is just the beginning, it’s going to be an incredible journey with Black Ops 4.

This is the first entry into the CoD lineup that features a battle royale mode and has absolutely no single-player campaign. BO4 is available for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Diablo III: Eternal Collection won’t have cross-platform play

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Diablo III: Eternal Collection won't have cross-platform play 4

A Blizzard representative confirmed that cross-play between PS4, Xbox One, and the Switch won’t be happening for Diablo III: Eternal Collection.

The release was released to DualShockers and states the following:

“While we love the idea of bringing our players together across platforms, we do not have any plans to implement cross-platform gameplay for Diablo at this time.”

The news follows speculation from a report that rumored the next entry could have cross-platform play.

Yesterday, a report from Business Insider interviewing a Blizzard rep surfaced the web. The gist of the report is whether or not Diablo III will have cross-play. Since Diablo III will have multiple platforms that are near identical and the Diablo series being a multiplayer game, it makes sense for it to have cross-play capabilities.

The Blizzard rep told Business Insider that “It’s a question of when, not if” which hinted at the possibility of all platforms being able to play with one another in the ARPG that is Diablo.

The folks working with Diablo were also said to be working with partners at Sony and Microsoft to enable cross-play with the Switch. Microsoft and Nintendo seem to have no problem playing with other competitors, but Sony was always the odd-man out.

Back in September, Sony did backtrack their decision about cross-play and started considering joining the bandwagon, which surprised many PlayStation owners. Given that the company’s CEO Kenichiro Yoshida saying that the PS4 is the “best place to play,” the turnaround was quick. Fans were surprised with the decision and overall pleased to be able to join others gamers on other systems globally.

With Blizzard’s confirmation on this ordeal, fans now won’t be too disappointed when the game doesn’t deliver what was speculated. Although, just that report made fans happy for that single day. But then again, “it’s a question of when, not if.”

Diablo III: Eternal Collection comes out November 2nd for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Get ready for another epic RPG.

Source: Business Insider.

CoD: Black Ops 4 new patch on launch day; What’s new?

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CoD: Black Ops 4 new patch on launch day; What's new? 5

Treyarch has released a new launch day patch for Call of Duty: Blacks Ops 4 that covers everything from UI to FPS to player count. This is the first major update Treyarch has released so far, and it just so happens that’s it on the launch of CoD: BO4.

Let’s dive in and see what’s new.

The major change is for FPS for PC players. Originally, it was capped at 120FPS. Now Treyarch has raised that to 160FPS this afternoon and eventually plans to remove the FPS cap in the coming days. Now PC gamers can enjoy BO4 without stutter and get that silky smooth G-Sync or FreeSync gameplay they crave.

The right-click bug where a UI would appear in the Personalization menu was fixed. This was pretty annoying to deal with. A few other UI bugs were fixed with menus being persistent when the game starts or Socials/Settings menus being not accessible during Blackout.

Razor Wire also now won’t trigger “team kill” detection in Hardcore modes.

Spawning locations in Domination were fixed.

Some general stability improvements have also been made.

Some other minor fixes were also released to all platforms today. Various UI enhancements for the menus were updated and some stat tracking problems were fixed in Blackout mode. Apparently, some players had XP issues for multiplayer which has also been resolved.

Some mode changes for Zombies have also been added. Easter eggs are now live for all regions so you can hunt down and find the hidden eggs all over the Zombies game modes in Voyage of Despair, IX, Classified, and Blood of the Dead.

And a few other fixes were also done: FFA players would also sometimes appear on a team together, this has been fixed. Players can also now get extra XP for unlocking Reactive and Mastercraft camos. And some game descriptions for Challenge modes were fixed.

Treyarch is monitoring the BO4 subreddit for player feedback and will have another detailed update coming tomorrow, October 13th. Right now, they’re actively listening to suggestions, bugs, and other posts by players across their social channels based on a post on the BO4 subreddit:

“First off: we’re currently tracking everything you’ve been sharing with us here on the subreddit and across our social channels. We’ll have a more detailed update coming tomorrow, so please keep your feedback coming in the comments below in the meantime. We see you.”

Here are the full patch notes (via Reddit):

Welcome to Launch Day! 

After three years, two Betas, and an incredible amount of feedback from the Call of Duty community, we’re finally able to celebrate the official launch of Black Ops 4 with you all!

This only the beginning…

You can expect regular updates and frequent communication from us going forward, just like during our MP and Blackout Betas. The big difference today: October 12th marks the beginning of a living, breathing game that we’re fully committed to over the long haul. There’s going to be a lot to talk about, starting with today’s game update.

First off: we’re currently tracking everything you’ve been sharing with us here on the subreddit and across our social channels. We’ll have a more detailed update coming tomorrow, so please keep your feedback coming in the comments below in the meantime. We see you.

Also, a hugely important piece of news for our Zombies players: we’ve enabled Easter Eggs worldwide in Voyage of Despair, IX, Blood of the Dead, and Classified! Good hunting out there.

We’ve made the following updates to the game today (Global):

  • General
    • Made many stability and UI improvements based on early tracking of live issues prior to official launch.
  • Multiplayer
    • Fixed an issue where Free-for-All players could sometimes appear on a team together.
    • Players are now granted bonus XP for unlocking Reactive and Mastercraft camos.
    • Corrected some inaccurate Challenge descriptions.
  • Zombies
    • Turned on Easter Eggs for all Zombies levels.
  • Blackout
    • Addressed some issues with Merits and stat tracking.

We’ve also made the following additional fixes specific to PC:

  • Framerate
    • Framerate cap increased to 160 FPS; uncapped framerate planned in the coming days.
  • Menus
    • Fixed an issue causing a UI error to appear when right-clicking characters in the Personalization menu.
    • Fixed an issue that caused UI elements to persist on screen when opening the Player menu at the same time as a match starting.
    • Fixed an issue causing the Social and Settings menus to be inaccessible when spectating in Blackout.

And of course, there are many other improvements in the works based on reporting from the community. Here are just a handful of the big topics that we’re working on for future updates:

  • We’re aware that players have been able to use Gestures (often referred to by the community as “Emotes”) to peek around corners in modes where that can create an unfair advantage. We’re currently working on an update that creates two systems for Gestures – the default system that is in the game now, and a competitive version that disables free look and applies different camera settings to prevent using it to see around corners. The default system will be used in parts of the game where corner peeking won’t affect gameplay balance (like the staging area of Blackout), and the competitive version will be used in modes where a more restrictive camera system is needed. We want players to always have fun with Gestures as intended, but never at the expense of fair gameplay!
  • There have been reports of sub-optimal spawning in Domination. We’re aware and working to improve that immediately.
  • Razor Wire should never trigger “team kill” detection in Hardcore modes. This is unintentional and will be fixed.

These and many other improvements are in progress, so stay tuned to this subreddit for future updates. This post is just the first of many. Remember to tag your craziest clips with #CODTopPlays on Twitter, stay hydrated out there, and enjoy everything all three modes have to offer! We’ll see you online.

-Treyarch

Fallout 76: State of West Virginia partners with Bethesda

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Fallout 76: State of West Virginia partners with Bethesda 6

Fallout 76 takes place in post-apocalyptic West Virginia. And the state of West Virginia is doing something to benefit from all this new exposure for their homeland.

Specifically, the state has partnered with Bethesda to promote the new Fallout 76 game by releasing new information on promo events and tours that they’ll have around the state. But the most awesome part is that they’ll have “Vault Boy sightings” as noted from the West Virginia Tourism Office.

Governor, Jim Justice, commented on this newfound partnership between the state and game company:

“It’s finally time the rest of the world sees what a gem West Virginia is. For years, I’ve been saying we have it all: beautiful scenery, the best people you could ask for and more. And now, we get to share a piece of that with people all over the world through the unique lens of this video game.”

News like this is always cool and interesting to see. A budding partnership up until the game’s release between the state and Bethesda will create increased resident happiness as they can appreciate the scenery and what their state has to offer. Prideful residents will be able to show off their homeland in Fallout 76. Pretty awesome to have your state featured in a video game. California next time? Anyone?

The game is coming out next month on the 14th for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The game is available for pre-order.

CoD: Black Ops 4’s split screen mode is awesome; Works for Blackout and Zombies

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CoD: Black Ops 4's split screen mode is awesome; Works for Blackout and Zombies 7

Split screen mode has long been a lost art ever since the good old days of N64 gaming with 4 players on a single TV. Most games nowadays don’t have split screen support and require that you and your friend both have their own copy of the game, a TV, and a console.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has split screen, and players are excited over this feature. It’s like a blast from the past. To play with a friend on the same console is awesome. And to play the new CoD is even better.

You’ll both need a PSN or Xbox Gold subscription. You’ll have to log in to each one after selecting the split screen option from the menus. Then you both need to log in to the same lobby together and bam- you’re playing CoD: Black Ops 4 in split screen.

This feature is obviously well-appreciated, as a post on Reddit garnered more than 2K upvotes just talking about how awesome to see something like this in a modern game should be done a lot more often.

Blackout allows split screen multiplayer and is the first ever battle royale game to offer this feature. Zombies also supports split-screen multiplayer also, which is a nice return as it wasn’t available on the Xbox 360 or PS3.

Split screen is available for both Xbox One and PS4, but not on PC yet, which makes sense. If you’re going to play together, you do it on a couch. On a TV. Split screen PC is a whole ‘nother world that’s just not as popular as getting together on a console.

Image: Reddit

Xbox One October 2018 update; New Avatars, Dolby Vision, Alexa support

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Xbox One October 2018 update; New Avatars, Dolby Vision, Alexa support 8

The latest update for Xbox One is a huge one. Microsoft’s latest October 2018 update for the Xbox One is headlined by the return of Xbox Avatars with a new look and style.

The update went live today and introduces the “new Xbox Avatars.” This update was supposed to be launched last year since it’s been in development ever since the reveal at last year’s E3 conference. Microsoft has delayed the release and started a beta program with Xbox Insiders this June. Now, the update is live and ready to deploy.

So, let’s get to the details.

Players can now easily customize themselves with an expanded take on personalization. Your new Avatar will show up on your profile pages, feed, community posts, and pretty much anywhere you can make yourself show up. You can also switch back to the original Avatars if you don’t like the new ones- AKA Xbox 360 Avatars.

The new Avatars offer plenty of customizations such as a variety of body types, clothing, and gender-neutral selections. People with disabilities can also represent themselves with the use of prosthetics and such. Naturally, skin hair, clothing, and accessories can all be customized indivually to the player’s choice- all the way down to the color of the object. Players can also buy themed merchandise from popular games like Halo in the Avatar Store.

Besides Avatars, the new update also adds support for both Cortana and Alexa for voice control. This means you can ask Amazon’s Alexa to launch a game or shut down the Xbox. Players who use Amazon devices can now integrate it with their Xbox if they’d rather use Alexa over Microsoft’s Cortana.

Another feature is the awesome support for Dolby Vision. The update can be used for Xbox One X and S, but only for streaming apps, not 4K Blu-Rays. Right now, you can test out Dolby Vision in video apps like Netflix (if you have the right 4K HD plan). However, other apps will soon support the same update.

Lastly, there will be a special offer for players interested in Xbox- Microsoft will give a free Amazon Echo for players who buy select Xbox One S or X bundles at Amazon. This offer is limited to US residents only.

This is a huge update and adds a lot of improvement to the overall capabilities of Xbox’s online service and gives it the boot over Sony’s limited feature set. PS4 can only support HDR to HDR10 standards. Though, Sony has been making headlines recently with the ability to finally change PSN usernames and backward compatibility for the PS5.

Source: Polygon

EA taking feedback: Which Command and Conquer game to remaster?

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EA taking feedback: Which Command and Conquer game to remaster? 9

A new thread posted on the Command and Conquer subreddit talks about remasters for classic games in the long-running series that’s kind of trailed off in recent years. The anniversary of Command and Conquer is once again coming up, and EA is reported to be reaching out to the modding community for support.

EA seems to be looking for feedback to see which games fans want to be remastered. Deciding which title gets the HD remaster is the big question. The thread doesn’t detail anything else, such as platform, payment, release date, and even whether or not the new Command and Conquer remaster will have microtransactions.

The post comes from a producer at EA, Jim Vessella, who was the Lead Producer of Kane’s Wrath. They’re looking for feedback from fans and plan to return the game series to PC rather than the failure that was Command and Conquer Rivals on mobile. When it was announced at E3 earlier this year, fans were disappointed.

As much as a cash cow mobile games are, not all games should be ported exclusively to mobile platforms in general. Rivals is an F2P strategy game where players fight 1v1 as GDI, Brotherhood of Nod, or Rivals. The goal is to capture a mission silo with control points for a period of time until it launches and destroys the enemy. Fans didn’t like it at E3.

Redwood Studios GM Michael Martinez said that they were trying to build a good strategy game for mobile platforms, and urged fans to give it a try. The most recent Command and Conquer game was released in 2013 called Command and Conquer: Generals 2. But it was canceled later on.

As of now, they have a lot of work to do. They’re working on a slimmed-down strategy game for the phone which is probably just a cheap cash grab like many games on the phone are catered to loyal fans who want the full experience again on its PC origins. They should focus their energy on what the fans want. Regardless, we’ll have to see how Rivals turns out.

MapleStory 2 now available worldwide; Game details and features

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MapleStory 2 now available worldwide; Game details and features 10

MapleStory 2 can now be played here in the US (and all over the world) starting today. MapleStory 2 builds upon the previously huge success that is MapleStory– the original KRPG that was super popular about a decade ago (and is still playable even today).

MapleStory 2 expands upon the previous game with a completely new take on the genre, changing from sidescrolling 2D to a full 3D environment for players to quest, grind, and party.

Some players have already had a head start on the game, as Nexon, the developer, allowed early access for a paid fee. The game was available on Steam for a price about $25 for anyone who wanted to play early. However, the game was already playable back in Korea a few years ago, but now it’s available for the rest of the world.

MapleStory 2 brings back the classic classes- Archer, Thief, Knight, and Wizard (remember when those were the only classes?), but also brings in some of the newer ones such as Berserker and Heavy Gunner.

The game also brings in the new class, Runeblade, which consists of a swordsman with magical swords infused with the elements and a special 2H blade.

MapleStory 2 has everything the previous game had, such as partying, bosses, dungeons, quests, minigames, special events, and more. The game also introduces world-building for players to “express themeselves unlike ever before.”

Their Steam product page says it better:

“Explore a New Dimension of MapleStory

Get ready to enter a whole new dimension of Maple World, as you and your friends encounter vivid 3D landscapes, a multitude of special events and exciting minigames, and enemies both familiar and completely original. Your all-new MapleStory is just waiting to be shared, and we can’t wait for you to get started!”

Currently, the level cap is 60 and the game has 8 Normal Adventure Dungeons for players to explore. As time goes on, there will undoubtedly be more content added. There’s already a pair of Epic Gear for players to loot, so get your MapleStory on already!

MapleStory 2 is available for PC on Steam and Nexon.

PlayStation confirms PSN name change feature; Program details released

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PlayStation confirms PSN name change feature; Program details released 11

Sony has announced that players can officially change their PSN username.

This has been a long-awaited feature (if you can call it that) that PSN users have been demanding for years. Xbox 360 and Xbox One users could change it anytime for a fee, but PlayStation users are set in stone once their online name has been chosen. They couldn’t change it even if they paid cash.

Microsoft gives every player a default, computer-generated username at the start, but can be changed once for free. Afterward, there’s a small fee for doing so. But the process is painless.

PlayStation announced that they would allow changes to your PSN Online ID. This news surfaced the web this morning and is beginning with a group of guinea pigs. The process doesn’t have an exact date, but they said the ability to change your username “is coming.” The testing phase will end next month. Rumors have been said that the program will roll out to everyone next year.

The first name change is free (just like Xbox), but following name changes will cost $9.99. If you’re a PS Plus member, it’ll cost just $4.99 (about 50% off). The feature works just as how you’d expect, but you also have the options to “display your previous ID with your new ID, so your friends can recognize you.” However, this decision is permanent and can’t be reversed to hide the old and new username associated together.

The majority of games will support the feature, but not all. PlayStation says that “a large majority of the most-played PS4 games” will support it and any game that’s released after April 1, 2018. A list will be released when the program is rolled out so players can refer to it and see if a name change is supported.

“This feature is compatible with PS4 games originally published after April 1, 2018, and a large majority of the most-played PS4 games that were released before this date. However, please note not all games and applications for PS4, PS3 and PS Vita systems are guaranteed to support the online ID change, and users may occasionally encounter issues or errors in certain games.”

Since the feature is still new, users are bound to face bugs, glitches, and errors. They can revert back to their old name for free if they should encounter any, but only one revision is allowed during the preview program.

Halo Infinite won’t be covered at X018: “Nothing currently planned”

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Halo Infinite won't be covered at X018: "Nothing currently planned" 12

Microsoft’s X018 event takes place next month. It’s an event where they’ll step out and announce a variety of projects, reveals, and other goodies that fans will undoubtedly get hyped over. The event takes place during a special episode of Inside Xbox.

Fans have been speculating that there will surely be some Halo Infinite news during the show- the fourth game in the long-running Halo series that dates back to the original Xbox. If you’re one of them, you shouldn’t hold your breath. A tweet from 343 Industries Director of Community, Brian Jarrard, they have absolutely no news to reveal during the event, or is just covering up the news?

He said this in a tweet replying to a fan, saying that there’s “nothing currently planned for X018.” Jarrard did, however, mention about when and where they’ll end up giving out the news about the next Microsoft exclusive- just not at X018. So Halo fans, don’t get trigger finger primed just yet.

You can see the tweet here:

Halo Infinite’s reveal at E3 was one of the features of the entire presentation. Microsoft hasn’t really said anything else about the game since then. Then again, what if Jarrard is just covering up the excitement at XO18? We’ll find out.

Stay tuned for coverage.

XCOM 2: Tactical Legacy Pack now live; Free for a limited time

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XCOM 2: Tactical Legacy Pack now live; Free for a limited time 13

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – Tactical Legacy Pack is now available for free for anyone who owns both XCOM 2 and War of the Chosen.

This is a limited-time offer as this DLC is only free from October 9th to early December. Afterward, the content pack will run you $7.99.

Tactical Legacy Pack offers three new modes to the game: Legacy Ops, Resistance Archives, and Skirmish Mode. We’ve written about these new XCOM 2 modes in an earlier article when the content pack was first announced. This is perfect for fans who were waiting for a reason to get the dust off their copy of XCOM 2 and give the game another go.

Aside from the new game modes, there will also be new weapons, armor, maps, customization, photobooth options, attitude options, and exclusive soundtracks from XCOM: UFO Defense, Enemy Uknown, and War of the Chosen.

Early downloaders have reported that this content pack had some startup issues, crashes, and other bugs on the XCOM 2 Steam Community hub. Developer Firaxis Games and is aware of these problems and is working for a solution.

For those who don’t already own XCOM 2, it’s available right now on Steam and its War of the Chosen expansion is also on sale. Buy both and get this content pack for free. And to make it even more appealing you can even play the base game for free this weekend on Steam!

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Nuketown revealed: It’s in Russia.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's Nuketown revealed: It's in Russia. 14

Treyarch just released a new teaser picture for their upcoming Nuketown map. Black Ops 4 rolls out this Friday and the launch day maps have already been confirmed. Nuketown is scheduled to release next month, but fans are unsure which Black Ops game the Nuketown map will be modeled after.

Treyarch’s latest tweet shows off a city limits sign that reads “W3LCOM3 TO NUK3TOWN” with a population of “11” and counting. To be specific, it’s more like 10.5.

The tweet was written in Russian, which easily suggests that the map will be located in a snow environment, which would actually be the first of its kind for a Nuketown map in Black Ops history. This sets up the scene for some nighttime camouflage and CQC with sniper locations. That’s typical of snowy maps in games- or at least what I imagine first hand.

Nuketown is one of the confirmed maps with the other 14 being available on launch day. The map will roll out sometime next month. PlayStation 4 owners will get to play the map a week early as part of Sony and Activision’s partnership.

Nuketown has been featured in every single Black Ops games since the beginning. With a smaller roaming area, the map is known for intense CQC and fast-paced action, with sniping at close distances (no scope!).

The new Blackout mode will also be in the form of Nuketown Island, where players will land on in an all-out last man standing battle royale mode, which has been revised many times since the beta hosted back in August.

The game comes out this Friday for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. See our coverage of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.

No Man’s Sky – Update V1.63: What’s new?

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No Man's Sky - Update V1.63: What's new? 15

No Man’s Sky has kept their promise and is consistently pushing out new content for players ever since their last big update- No Man’s Sky Next. With the objective of having content roll out with every patch, players have been very pleased with this commitment to constant content.

The latest patch, V1.63, was released just a few days ago and works alongside the 5th Development Update for the game and is packed with new content. The most exciting part is probably the new Exocraft- the Pilgrim.

This vehicle is described to be very “rugged and fast moving.” Just from the looks of it, it really does. It’s like a speed bike equipped with some gnarly technology. Something from the future with off-road tires and antennas out the rear. The Pilgrim’s blueprints are widely available for anyone to purchase who can afford them, so anyone can buy them as long as they have the capital.

Hello Games is also improving the Exocraft Summoning Stations. Previous patches would require a separate station to be built for it, but now players will only need a single station per planet which has unlimited range.

Other improvements include a larger and expanded inventory, fixed races between vehicles, new upgrades for Exocrafts (including the Pilgrim) that changes handling, speed, boost power, and other stats, which are similar to the ship modules and multi-tool which will run nanites with each upgrade.

There are also a ton of bug fixes, visual upgrades, and object highlighting when the Analysis Visor is used. The game performance has also been upgraded with terrain tessellation on the PC version.

You can check out the full patch notes for No Man’s Sky V1.63 here. The game is available for PS4 and Xbox One and PC.

FromSoftware Game Event Fall 2018; Details and schedule

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FromSoftware Game Event Fall 2018; Details and schedule 16

FromSoftware is going to be hosting the FromSoftware Game Event Fall 2018 on October 14th, 2018 in Osaka. The event will feature four playable games and is completely free to attend for everyone who wants to attend.

The event is mainly for fans to catch up on FromSoftware titles. There will be live presentations on stage at the scheduled times throughout the day:

  • 12:30 Deraciné stage presentation
  • 13:10 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice stage presentation
  • 14:00 Dark Souls Remastered stage presentation
  • 14:50 Metal Wolf Chaos XD stage presentation
  • 15:30 Armored Core 20th Anniversary Sound Request
  • 16:50 FromSoftware Cult Quiz Championship

One even worth mentioning is the Armored Core event, which is currently undergoing a vote to let fans decide on their favorite tracks int eh giant 20th anniversary OST. The tunes will be compiled into a special set and will be voted in completely by players.

There will also undoubtedly be the anticipated news surround the new Armored Core game that’s being developed right now. This event will likely be the reveal fans have been waiting for.

Stay tuned for updates. FromSoftware fans have a lot to look forward to.

Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode: Longer revive timers, increased crawl speeds

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CoD: Black Ops 4 has seen many changes recently after the player feedback from the open beta test on PS4 that ran a few weeks ago. We’ve seen FPS increases, player count increases, item pickup changes, and many other fine tweaks.

Treyarch is still working around the clock to finalize the Blackout mode before CoD: BO4 rolls out next Friday, October 12th. They want to ensure the best performance while not bogging down their servers so players get a positive gameplay experience.

An online personality, Tejbz, revealed that he was told directly by Treyarch that the revive timer in the Blackout mode was doubled in length, but then a developer has come out of the wild and said that it’s not exactly double. This dev was Matt Scronce, Senior Game Designer at Treyarch. He noted the following:

“Blackout was 3 seconds revive in beta and we’ve increased it to 5 seconds for launch”, he said in a Reddit post.

And to balance the revive timers, they increased the character crawl speed after you get downed. This way you can run (well, crawl) for cover while your teammates revive you or take down the enemies.

Scronce said that the Medic perk will become a useful attribute, which reduces the revive time by half. This perk was widely underused in the beta, so this just may make it meta. Posts on Reddit surfaced:

Double the revive time of Beta in full release. The right move IMO. Thoughts? from Blackops4

Other battle royale games have much longer revive timers anyway, with Fortnite being a whole 10 seconds. Scronce remarks:

“We enjoy the gameplay around revive times at a quicker pace compared to the genre standard.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode will be the first time the series has attempted a battle royale mode. It’ll also be the first CoD game with no single-player campaign. The game will undergo changes as time goes on to improve the gameplay and performance- namely FPS and server balancing. The game comes out next Friday.

See the officially confirmed Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launch day maps.

Every Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 map confirmed for launch day

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Every Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 map confirmed for launch day 18

With Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launching next Friday, fans have been curious as to what maps will be confirmed on launch day. Last year’s CoD: WWII only had 9 maps and fans were lukewarm about it. This year, fans are concerned that CoD: BO4 may have the same lukewarm offering once again.

David Vonderhaar of Treyarch stated in an interview that every launch day map is now “public knowledge” but this wasn’t entirely true, as new maps have since then been revealed over time. So far, we know there are 10 new maps, 4 remakes of older maps, and Nuketown will also be back in a later free DLC pack.

Right now, these are the confirmed maps on launch day for Black Ops 4:

NEW MAPS

Arsenal: “Hostile covert ops on a manufacturing facility of a powerful North American military defense contractor means someone may have stolen the keys to the castle.”

Frequency: “A covert listening station deep in the mountainous region of Hunan Province is being used to track strategic targets across the globe.”

Contraband: “Surveillance of an international arms smuggling operation has uncovered this shipping hub on a remote, uncharted island off the coast of Colombia.”

Hacienda: “A lavish vineyard estate situated on a quiet lake in the Spanish countryside, home to a high-ranking crime syndicate boss.”

Payload: “A defensive ICBM launch facility deep in an Icelandic mountain range has been infiltrated by hostile forces attempting to steal a nuclear warhead.”

Seaside: “An anti-government protest in this quaint coastal Spanish town grew out of control and forced a military shutdown.”

Gridlock: “A Japanese metropolis whose city center has been jammed up by a bank heist gone wrong.”

Icebreaker: “A long lost Nuclear submarine in the Arctic houses a uranium supply which a Russian unit has come to salvage.”

Militia: “Anti-government extremists backed covertly by a Russian cell are stockpiling weaponry in a remote region of Alaskan wilderness near the Bearing Strait.”

Morocco: “Rebels in a small Moroccan village are using government military supply planes as target practice as they fly over the surrounding Sahara Desert.”

REMAKES

Firing Range: “US Forces gear up for red team/blue team combat exercises in this Guantanamo Bay military base.”

Jungle: “The heat is on as Cold War forces collide in the sweltering depths of the Vietnam jungle.”

Slums: “Street battles rage in head to head heat through the center of a run down Panama neighborhood.”

Summit: “Cold War surveillance is at its peak above the clouds in the mountaintop listening post in the Ural Mountains.”

Nuketown will be free next month, but it’s unsure whether it’ll be from BO1, BO2, or BO3. Stay tuned for updates.

Source: GameSpot.

Capcom confirms Monster Hunter film; Paul W.S Anderson director

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Capcom confirms Monster Hunter film; Paul W.S Anderson director 19

After the recent Capcom announcement that the Mega Man games would get a shot at the big screen, another reveal was just announced today that they’re also making a Monster Hunter movie. Due to the huge, landslide success that is Monster Hunter: World, the film will be based around a duo of protagonists who attempt to survive in a world of mythical beasts.

Paul W.S. Anderson will be directing the film, who’s known for his work in directing Resident Evil movies from game-to-film adaptions.

Capcom also said that they’ll be distributing the movie in Japan to please the fans over there, who happen to take the game slightly more seriously than players here in the West- like us, for example. Toho will be the distribution company overseas.

We want to see a film that shows off a variety of the great beasts that crawl the earth and the struggles of humans in a world therein. The film has just been announced and no release date has yet be confirmed or even suggested. Stay tuned for updates for the Monster Hunter movie, which should follow up in the coming weeks.

 

Black Ops 4: New Zombies trailer, new maps, launch day news

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Black Ops 4: New Zombies trailer, new maps, launch day news 20

A new video was uploaded to the official PlayStation YouTube channel, which shows Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Zombies game mode Director, Jason Blundell, giving a developer’s behind-the-scenes look at the new game maps which will be available on launch day. He puts it to the fans that he’s clearly excited about this version of Zombies as you can tell by his enthusiasm during the video (linked within the article).

Previous CoD games launched with only a single Zombies map, but this time around, there will be a whole trio of Zombies maps for players to shoot down the undead- they’re called XI, Blood of the Dead, and Voyage of Despair.

IX has players going back in time to a medieval-like arena with costumes to match the craze. Players will be able to experience the all the violence and gore that once was in the olden days. The whole map is decorated with medieval-themed objects and the player costumes are ridiculous, funny, and awesome at the same time. If there’s any map I’m going to play first, it’s going to be this one for sure. Going back in time is much nicer than going forward, no?

Blood of the Dead previous map that was once used in the series already, so it’s a retro map in a way. Think the map Mob of the Dead back in Black Ops II. Now reimagine it with a similar theme and construct, and you have a new map. Players will see the familiar NPCs as they attempt to escape from the prisoner’s island.

Voyage of Despair is another map that involves time travel where players will go back in time to the Titanic and duke it out on the infamous ship. But this time, Blundell says there’s “more to the situation than just icebergs.” You can run around the ship and see crashing waves, ship-themed objects, and zombies as far as you can see!

The Zombies game mode has become a staple of the CoD series. Ever since its debut as an easter egg back in CoD: World at War in 2008, the game mode has grown into a fan-demanded no-holds-barred adrenaline-fueled experience.

Blackout will be the first time CoD has attempted a battle royale mode. So far, it has seen a lot of praise during beta testing. This could be another “Zombies” in the making.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launches on October 12th for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. See launch day notes if you’re amped.

Telltale fires the remaining “skeletal staff”

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Telltale fires the remaining "skeletal staff" 21

Telltale made headlines a few weeks back when players found out that the story-based developer has confirmed that they’re going out of business. A press release from Telltale confirmed the rumors and the main reason was due to no sales.

They then posted some more information in the following days regarding layoffs. They said that a skeletal staff remains of about two dozen employees who will continue to work for the company’s final project- The Walking Dead: The Final Season.

Fans wondered about whether or not they’ll get to see episodes two and three of the game or if it’ll just end abruptly with the first two episodes. Telltale came out saying that with supporters, they’ll continue to finish the game. This made fans happy, even though they’re favorite emotionally-driven storytelling company is about to shut down.

Today, Rachel Noel, the Narrative Designer at Telltale, came out and said that she found everyone has been fired. A post on Twitter marks this event as basically Telltale trying to sweet talk the fans by keeping a small staff for whatever reason, but apparently not. Telltale Games has fired the remaining staff entirely.

After the first announcement was posted on 9/21, studios and members of the industry came out to help with job fairs and support. Now, the rest of the crew needs that same help. From her tweet, it’s apparent that they didn’t expect to get fired so quickly and were met with frustration:

Telltale Games can now be considered to be officially done with its projects. I mean, what else are they going to do without a staff? This is a pretty disgusting move to be doing considering what they just said a few weeks ago. Bad Telltale. Bad.

You can get more info about the layoffs here.

Splatoon 2 update Version 4.1.0: What’s new?

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Splatoon 2 update Version 4.1.0: What's new? 22

Another update just went live for Splatoon 2. Since its inception on the Switch, Splatoon 2 has sen a bunch of new updates packed with fixes, content, and more. Yesterday, the latest update just rolled up. Find out what’s new in Version 4.1.0.

For starters, players will get access to the game’s final arena called the Skipper Pavillion, which is themed as an old magical temple located somewhere outside the land of Inkopolis. Players will also get a new Booyah Bomb and a new selection of special weapons known as the Kensa Collection.

Lastly, there will be four new music tracks featuring music from artists SashiMori and Diss-Pair.

The latest update can be downloaded by going online on your Switch or manually updating it via the Options menu tucked in the Software icon. Although the 4.1.0 update isn’t much, it’s still worth trying out Skipper Pavilion just for fun. The new music tracks are also pretty cool and catchy. And the new set of weapons are neat to look at.

Splatoon 2 is Nintendo’s latest entry into the ink-slinging domination game and has gone as far as hosting esports events. Although it’s not as popular as other leading esports game and genres, it’s still a decent and competitive game for the Nintendo Switch. If you still haven’t played this game yet and you’re interested in it, you can easily find it for cheap online (eBay, Amazon, etc.).

Here are the game features from the product’s sales page (from Nintendo):

  • Turf War – Team up in fierce 4-on-4 multiplayer battles* to see which team can cover the most turf with ink
  • Salmon Run – 2-4 players* can team up for co-op fun and defeat waves of enemy Salmonids.
  • New weapons – Dual wield the new Splat Dualies and avoid getting splatted with the new Dodge Roll move. Mainstays like the Splat Roller and Splat Charger have been remixed to include new gameplay mechanics, and all special weapons are brand-new.
  • Local and Online Multiplayer – In a first for the series, compete in local multiplayer Turf War battles*, whether in TV mode or on-the-go in handheld or tabletop modes. Online battles also make a return**
  • New ways to play – Play with the Joy-Con™ controllers or the Nintendo Switch™ Pro Controller (sold separately), both of which support motion controls for better aiming
  • Fresh Updates – Similar to the Splatoon™ game for the Wii U™ console, updates will roll out post-launch, adding new content and in-game events.
  • Smart Device Support** – An upcoming smart-device application for the Nintendo Switch system will allow players to set play appointments with friends and teammates, as well as voice chat with friends during play sessions.
  • LAN Play – Up to 10 docked systems – eight players and two spectators – can connect via wired LAN (additional accessories required; sold separately). This feature allows players to create local Private Battle tournaments without the need for an internet connection. Local wireless play is perfect for your regular gaming get-togethers, but LAN Play is where it’s at when you want to organize a serious tournament.
  • Customize – Change your Inkling’s style with different weapons, headgear, clothes, and shoes. Gear isn’t just aesthetic; it offers different boosts in battles.
  • amiibo – Compatible with all Splatoon™ series amiibo™ figures. By tapping these amiibo, the figure’s character will appear in the game and befriend players. Befriend an amiibo character and they will remember favorited weapons, gear, outfits and option settings.

Best-selling PSVR titles of all time documented

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Best-selling PSVR titles of all time documented 23

Mat Piscatella, a video game industry analyst working for The NPD Group, documented the five best-selling games of all time based on the PSVR label in the US. He posted his research via a tweet on his Twiter account. He listed the top five best-selling “PSVR Required” titles in order of sales:

  • Farpoint
  • Worlds VR
  • Batman: Arkham VR
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  • Driveclub VR

https://twitter.com/MatPiscatella/status/1047147289532219397

He noted that the ranking was determined by dollar sales. Whether or not you like these titles, sales are the best measurement of how a game performs. While we can argue back and forth with personal anecdotes, Metacritic scores, and even personal reviews, nothing can be said about the sales figures for games.

This is often the strongest measure of success in the industry. Even if you’ve heard a game sucks, as long as it sells, it’s a success.

Piscatella ranked the games by dollar amount and not sales figures. His research only contains PS4 games that require PSVR, not where the VR is optional. Three of the five games were published by Sony and Sony’s offerings have been more popular than others in terms of PSVR

First-party titles seem to be often more successful than third-party games in terms of PSVR sales overall. With only Skyrim and Batman being third-party titles, they need to step it up in order to compete with Sony’s own lineup. Of course, it’s much easier for Sony to promote their own titles on their own PS Store.

VR gaming is becoming more mainstream as companies like Sony facilitate the process. With the rise of more affordable VR tech, like the Oculus Quest, VR gaming is only expanding worldwide. As we get more and more games adopting this tech, we’re entering a new frontier. Or should I say, a new dimension?

Image: PlayStation.

Source: The NPD Group.

New Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 ad features rapper Post Malone (it’s ridiculous)

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New Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 ad features rapper Post Malone (it's ridiculous) 24

Ah, the time for Pepsi, Doritos, and Activision to team up again and market the new Call of Duty game. Like a yearly ritual, we’ll get those infamous “Double EXP” or “special rewards” vouchers for buying specially marked packs of whatever food or beverage. Activision is known to go all out in advertising their new CoD games, with some commercials features celebrities like Rob Riggle and Jonah Hill.

This time, the newest advertising campaign for the next AAA title, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, features the face of rapper Post Malone doing various things in a video titled “Feelin’ Like a Rockstar” with the #CODNATION hashtag.

The video is extremely weird and outlandish, but that’s expected. The ad is kind of dumb and cheap, but has a certain appeal but you just can’t stop watching.

The newest CoD will feature an all-new mode called Blackout, which is a battle royale mode we’ve talked about many times. the map is the largest map ever created in any Call of Duty game ever made and features different maps from its legacy.

The game will launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 12th.

The prototype of Cuphead is nothing like the one you know today

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The prototype of Cuphead is nothing like the one you know today 25

On the Cuphead official Twitter account, developers released some early artwork of the game’s development. They tweeted a short clip of the game as a prototype which would eventually evolve into Cuphead– the modern platformer with old-school animation (and a very difficult gameplay style).

After watching the short tweet, the prototype has little-to-no similarities to the final Cuphead we all know and love (and hate). The only things that even look remotely related to the final product are the giant bosses. Developing a game is typically a reserved process unless it’s a crowdfunded sort of project. The process is always interesting to document especially if it’s an indie title that went viral.

Cuphead is one of them. The game sold over 3M copies and was released on Xbox One and PC. The first upcoming DLC is about to be released sometime in 2019, so the game is still going. Plans to expand the game to other consoles is still unconfirmed at this point in time.

Dragon Quest XI S for Nintendo Switch will “take quite some time”

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Dragon Quest XI S for Nintendo Switch will "take quite some time" 26

Square Enix released a video yesterday featuring Hokuto Okamoto and Director Takeshi Uchikawa of Dragon Quest XI. The two key developers talk about the development of their next entry into the Dragon Quest series and localization of the game and explain again why the 3DS version of Dragon quest won’t be released in the West. Simply put: It doesn’t make business sense for Square.

Dragon Quest XI S will be released for Nintendo Switch and is still in the “midst of development” according to these key players in the development of the game. The Japanese version is undergoing the same status and they said to “expect the development to still take quite some time.” So if you’re waiting for the Switch version, don’t hold your breath.

You can view the dev team interview of Dragon Quest VI here:

 

League of Legend’s Ezreal next in line for a rework

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League of Legend's Ezreal next in line for a rework 27

League of Legend’s Ezreal is next in line for a rework- following Nunu and Willump earlier this Summer. Ezreal will get a whole overhaul of his abilities to make him relevant and possibly “meta” again.

Riot Games revealed a small glimpse of overhauled Ezreal in action by releasing a new teaser trailer showing off the flashy new abilities, with his “W” being the biggest new change compared to the previous Ezreal reworks. Ezreal also got a new look with a stylistic approach to his character model. Otherwise, he looks pretty much the same as before.

The trailer also presents the variety of skins for Ezreal and how they’ll look after the rework.

At the moment, there’s no specific release date as to when the overhaul will be complete. Following this trailer, there should be a new Champion Spotlight with a detailed look at his changes after the overhaul is complete.

Dark Souls Remastered trailer for Nintendo Switch released

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Dark Souls Remastered trailer for Nintendo Switch released 28

Dark Souls Remastered for the Nintendo Switch is coming. And guess what? It’s gonna be a relaxing game. Heh.

Nintendo has released a new trailer showing off the new game before it’s launch next month on the Switch. The trailer shows off some of the classic ARPG action we’ve all grown to adore (and hate) about the Dark Souls series with a humorous tale of “keeping calm” while trying to reduce the urge to rage quit and toss your handheld across the room:

https://youtu.be/9sjv8es_gv0

The Switch edition will be a remastered edition of Dark Souls which was released earlier in 2018 on consoles and PC. The Switch version has been delayed just before its launch to later this year. Even with the delay, the game is still planned and confirmed with only a few weeks away from its release next month.

Finally, Nintendo fans will get to be able to experience the meditative and relaxing gameplay that is Dark Souls!

Switch owners will get some goodies like being able to use a new amiibo figure based on Solaire of Astora.

Dark Souls Remastered will release on October 19th for the Nintendo Switch. It’s currently available for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Possibly more Marvel Games coming after Spider-Man’s success

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Possibly more Marvel Games coming after Spider-Man's success 29

Marvel’s Spider-Man is still the hottest selling game in the UK right now, and has been crowned as the fastest selling PlayStation first-party title of all time and has shattered records within Marvel and PlayStation games as a whole. And from internet critics all over the interwebs.

Bill Rosemann, Creative Director at Marvel Games, recently responded to a tweet from GameSpot that discussed why Spider-Man selling well was an important factor. Rosemann built upon the thought of the game being “the Iron Man of Marvel video games.” This quite originally was said by Bryan Inthihar, Creative Director over at Insomniac Games. The quote was said during an interview with Kinda Funny Games:

The point is that now this quote really solidifies a new beginning of Marvel console games, a for how Iron Man was one of the first comic book movies that unleashed the Marvel universe to the general population. This will likely be the start of a plethora of quality, first-party, titles based on comic book superheroes from the Marvel brand. But what hero is up next Who knows? It’s all pure speculation at this point. But with its success so far, the fans have spoken and more Marvel games are likely on the way. Fans are stoked about this tweet.

Marvel’s Spider-Man is available exclusively for the PS4. Just about 3.4M players have already experienced the game. This speaks “volumes” already. (Pun not intended.)

Battlefield V Open Beta: Stats, details, changes

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Battlefield V Open Beta: Stats, details, changes 30

Battlefield V developer DICE has posted a new report with some details from the Battlefield V Open Beta test. Statistics and various fascinating tidbits were organized into an infographic that spanned the duration of the event.

Some interesting details:

  • 36% of players chose to play as Assault (most popular)
  • 14% of players chose to play as Support (least popular)
  • 23,000,000 buddy revives were made
  • 80,000,000 fortifications were constructed
  • 143,139 snowmen were built
  • Tens of millions of hours were played

DICE also went ahead and listed a plethora of changes that’ll be adjusted for the full game’s release on November 20th. Some notable changes are improving player visibility, respawn timers, time to kill, vehicle options, systemic vehicle damage, pilot/gunner visibility.

Daniel Berlin, DICE’s Design Director, tweeted about some other game changes that’ll be adjusted:

DICE has also released a video where they discuss and talk about everything they’ve gathered from the beta in a “dev talk” video:

Battlefield V launches on the 20th of November for PC, Xbox One, and PS4.